Carlos Corberan must stick with Josh Griffiths ahead of West Brom clash v Watford
West Brom need to bounce back to winning ways against Watford on Monday night (20 February) and Carlos Corberan must get his team selection right.
The Baggies boss made a bold decision in the previous game against Blackburn Rovers. He dropped senior goalkeeper David Button and gave a debut to young talent Josh Griffiths.
The game ended 1-1 with Ben Brereton Diaz scoring a late equaliser for the visitors. It was a good strike from him, but Griffiths should have done better.
It sparked a bit of a reaction among the pundits with Micheal Appleton saying on ITV (15 February) that the 21-year-old made a “mistake” late on when it really mattered. It was a costly mistake as the Baggies dropped two points.
“Yeah, I feel for Josh [Griffiths] a little bit,” said Appleton on ITV’s EFL highlights on Wednesday night (15 February).
“He had a good game tonight, made a couple of decent stops early in the game. But when it really mattered late on, he made the mistake.”
The Baggies are in the mix for a place in the play-off, and every point is crucial here. In such a scenario, there could be temptation for Corberan to bring back his senior player.
However, he must ditch the idea. The Spaniard should stick with Griffiths. The youngster did make some very good saves including a fantastic stop to deny Diaz in the 3rd minute.
It’s a learning curve for the youngster and he will try to rectify that in the coming game. If he Is dropped after just one mistake, his confidence could be shaken.
If you look at the goal, he did manage to get a touch on the ball, but just couldn’t keep it out. These are technical aspects that can be rectified, but his overall performance was superb.
The youngster was recalled from loan at Portsmouth during the January window, and Beale must give him the confidence that he can be a reliable option.
In other West Brom news, Albion pulled the plug on a late loan signing on deadline day.